Two Mistakes That Rock Our World

In Genesis 16 and following Abram and Sarai each make a mistake that cost them dearly and had repercussions all through the ages and today are a cause of world turmoil and affect things in our country like elections, the economy, and the war in Iraq.

God promised Abram that he would have a son and that this son would be the first of descendants too numerous to count. Years went by and the old man Abram and his equally old Sarai saw no signs of the fulfillment of that promise.

So Sarai tells Abram: Genesis 16: 2 "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; It may be that I shall obtain children by her."

That was the first mistake. Instead of waiting on God to fulfill his promise she took matters into her own hands and suggested a way that they could help God out a bit.

The second mistake follows: "And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai."

Abram had heard the voice of God giving him the promise on more than one occasion. But he decided to listen to Sarai instead of God. He took Sarai's servant as his wife and she had a baby: Ishmael. Ishmael became the father of the Arab people.

He is described as being a "wild donkey of a man" who will always be fighting with his brothers. Sound familiar?

Now I'm not knocking the Arab people or anything like that. My point is very simple: God has given us great and very precious promises - promises like He will never leave us nor forsake us - promises that all things work together for the good of them that love God and are called according to his purposes - promises like no temptation will come upon you that you cannot bear by finding God's way of escape.

How often do we figure out ways we can get out of difficult situations instead on relying on God. How often do we listen to the voices of others who want to offer shortcuts rather than obedience?

Each decision has a consequence. We know Abram and Sarai's decisions did. How about yours?

Pastor Tom